25km

It was a bit cloudy for the first time as I set off down the farm track out of town. 



Lots of storks nesting in the church bell towers





Past crosses new and old

arrows leading me to Villanueva Del Duque

where 19th century mining had left it’s mark ( and a white rabbit) 



Lots of granite was also quarried in the area 

and used in door surrounds and lintels

and fencing

and the landscape was dotted with rounded boulders



The open landscape was again given shade and shelter by the holm oaks many of which were obviously centuries old



The sandy track led me through farmland

and I followed the arrows past a stinking goat farm



It’s so dry nothing really rots just dehydrates



A big thing in the area is the devotion to the Virgin de la Guia (?) who has a pilgrimage in her honour and a shrine on the outskirts of Hinojosa 



My last town in Andalusia, tomorrow I’ll be in Extremadura. 



In the Plaza de la Cathedral 

I rang the local police who kindly came and gave me the key to the adjoining albergue which I’m sharing with a policeman stationed here who lives in Córdoba. Well he’s on the night shift so I won’t see much of him. It’s a newly renovated building with all a pilgrim could ask for 

and after showering and doing my washing I studied the poster of all the Caminos still to do 

before retiring to the plaza for lunch. I was here by 1,30 and would have carried on but the next town is 32km away and the bed here is very comfy. I’ve been put off camping by the frosts that greet me every morning and so, with an Albergue to myself for a fiver, why suffer more than need be?